Black-necked Stilt, Himantopus mexicanus

Black-necked Stilts, like their cousins the American Avocets, are
present year-round in good numbers in the Bay Area, to the
great pleasure of local birders and photographers. Males
(above) have all-black backs while the backs of females
(below) show some brown. These birds are celebrated for
their exceptionally-long (stilt-like) bright-pink legs.

Another female.

A first-cycle female, age indicated by the lighter pink of the legs and the light base of the bill.

Above and below, males, walking in water and flying, with all-black upperparts.

In mid-summer, stilts show worn old feathers and new ones molting in, best seen in flight, above and below.

,

Above,
part of the courting ritual; the female, nearer, adopts the receptive
position with neck extended, while the male splashes water on his
chest.

Above, the pair mates.

And finally, after mating, the pair does a ritual dance together, similar to that of the American Avocets.

Incubating
a clutch of eggs to hatching is a risky proposition; above, a pair
watches as a gopher snake invades their nest, lower right. The snake ultimately ate
all four eggs. A close-up from this photo showing the snake in the
nest, with one egg in its mouth, is here , and a sequence of pictures showing the whole sad event is here .

,Despite
the risks, nesting usually results in live chicks, which the adults
then must protect and feed. Above, an adult male stilt showing a
behavior I'd never even know existed before I saw this instance of it:
sheltering a newly hatched chick under his wing. Below, an adult female
with a downy chick.

Above,
an adult male with a mostly-grown juvenile that is begging food; below, a
similar juvenile, too large to be carried under the male parent's wing
as shown further up the page, still seeks and receives shelter there.

The brown scalloping on the feathers and the brownish-pink legs indicate that the
bird above is a juvenile. Finally, below is a three-picture sequence of a downy
chick, displaying all the steadiness afoot of any toddler.